


Old Friends

by songbook



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28972416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songbook/pseuds/songbook
Summary: Poe, Rey, and Finn accompany Leia on a mission and meet up with an old friend of hers.
Relationships: Amilyn Holdo/Leia Organa
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Old Friends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shanone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shanone/gifts).



> This was written for lady-blueberri on tumblr. Thank you for getting me back into Amileia. It takes place between TFA and TLJ, obviously a stretch of canon. Enjoy.

Rey noticed as they shuffled off the transport ship that Poe kept his body physically between Leia and the goon that was escorting them off the bounty hunter’s ship. He was very protective of her, although Rey figured that Leia was quite capable of handling herself. Especially since it had been Leia who had arranged her own capture.

Four months ago, they had been alerted to a bounty for General Leia Organa. They had deduced through some back channels that a slaver and war lord, Tremel, was trying to gain clout with the First Order. Tremel had apparently been scum on the bottom of the Republic’s shoe for some time now and Leia had seen it as an opportunity.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the infamous General.” A gnarly looking man with a disgusting mustache sauntered across the deck of the hunk of junk that Rey wasn’t sure should still be flying. She would have thought a slaver of his supposed renown would have a better ship.

Although if Tremel wasn’t doing as well as he boasted, it could be why he arranged for the capture of General Organa. He was practically drooling now as Leia, Poe, and Rey stood in his cargo hold. The bounty hunter, generously paid by both parties, took his leave without another word. Obviously, he didn’t want to be around when the fighting started.

Rey’s eyes flickered across the cargo hold. Tremel stood alone in the middle of the room. There were two guards on either side of the trio, as well as four additional armed people scattered throughout the cargo hold. She finally found Finn, appearing to tinker at a control panel. He had been placed undercover weeks ago.

According to Leia, they had one more undercover rebel on the ship, but that person was responsible for clearing their way to the bridge to take the ship. Based on the size, there couldn’t be more than a handful of people on this bucket. Tremel’s business hadn’t been very productive in the last few years, so his followers had been scattering through the stars in search of more lucrative work.

Leia leaned forward, her shackled hands reaching out to grasp Tremel’s. The man smirked and joked, “Look, boys, I’ve still got it.”

“I think that you’ll find that I am the one who still has it.” In a smooth, single motion, Leia jerked his hands towards her, simultaneously slipping her hands out of the shackles and onto his wrists. Rey dropped her own shackles to the ground and threw herself at the nearest guard. She heard Poe’s fist make contact with the guy closest to him.

From his position, Finn had taken out his blaster and started firing at the other four insurgents, taking them by surprise. Rey wrestled the gun away from the guard and aimed at the door of the cargo hold, expecting more company. Poe successfully helped Finn down the others and the two embraced in an enthusiastic hug.

Leia stood over Tremel, holding his pistol to his head. He was blubbering like a child, the handcuff tight against his wrists, begging Leia to spare his life. All of his earlier bravado had gone. “Please, I’ll do anything!”

“I’m sure you will,” smirked Leia before knocking him over the head with the butt of the pistol. The four watched in satisfaction as his unconscious body hit the deck.

Just then, the ship lurched, sending them all stumbling and Tremel’s body to slide unceremoniously into a pile of boxes. Poe reached Leia first, letting her take his arm to remain upright. Rey knew they had to get to the bridge, apparently their help was having a bit of trouble.

The four rushed to the door of the cargo hold that led into the main part of the ship. Rey and Finn went first, weapons draw, ready for any foes they may face. The passageway was clear, though, and they hurried toward the bridge. Along the way they found a handful of downed crewmembers.

The ship pitched again, this time with such force that Rey found herself tumbling along the floor. Finn landed next to her, but Poe and Leia had managed to hang on to a nearby railing. The ship righted itself, but it seemed to be in a downward trajectory now. It was possible that the nearby planet was pulling them into its gravity.

Poe blasted the latch off the door of the bridge and he almost tripped over the body of a man in the doorway as he pushed his way in. Two more bodies lay on the floor of the cramped bridge. A single woman sat in the pilot’s seat, flipping switches, and pulling on the yoke to take the ship out of it’s nosedive.

Leia breathed a sigh of relief at the sight and called out, “Only you would try to crash the ship while I’m on it.”

The woman turned around briefly to shoot Leia a cheeky grin. “I thought things were going too smoothly.”

Poe lowered his blaster slowly. Obviously, this was their other operative on the ship. At first glance, Rey thought the brown haired, mousy woman was in her late forties. However, as she got closer, she saw she was probably closer in age to Leia.

“Dameron, take control and get us out of here.”

“Yes, sir.” The woman handed the controls over to Poe, wincing slightly as she got up. Rey noticed she had a small cut over her left eye as they traded places.

Leia’s eyes narrowed at the injury. “I thought I told you to stay out of trouble.”

“Sometimes the best of intentions end in with some regrets,” replied the woman cryptically. She nodded appreciatively at Finn and smiled sweetly at Rey as she passed them. Leia, obviously understanding the phrase, rolled her eyes.

Rey sat down in the copilot’s seat and Finn hovered behind both of them. They weren’t out of the woods yet. They still had to make it back to Republic Space. Then they could interrogate their captive.

“Who’s she?” whispered Poe.

“Introduced herself as a friend,” shrugged Finn. “We didn’t interact much. Didn’t want to blow our cover. They called her Gazer.”

Rey glanced over her shoulder and saw that Leia was rifling through part of the bulkhead looking for something. Triumphantly, she pulled out what appeared to be a first aid kit. The woman sank down onto a bench at Leia’s order. To Rey’s surprise, the woman gave a tug on her hair near her forehead. Slowly, the brown wig pulled away to reveal shocking pale blue hair.

“Cut doesn’t look that deep,” muttered Leia as she took out a bottle and some gauze. The blue hair didn’t seem to be a surprise to her as much as it did the other three. Poe’s eyebrows skyrocketed at the color before turning his attention back to steering.

Rey and Finn watched with curiosity as Leia placed two fingers under the woman’s chin, tilting her head up. Carefully, Leia dapped the alcohol bottle to the gauze and tenderly applied it to the cut. The woman winced slightly at the sting, but didn’t pull away.

“Amilyn, what part of keep your head down did you not understand?” chided Leia.

The blue haired woman, Amilyn, gave a half-hearted smile. “You also told me to secure the bridge. Just following orders, Princess.”

Poe glanced hastily over his shoulder, with almost a glare, and whispered, “Who is she again?”

“I told you they called her Gazer,” replied Finn, shrugging.

“Leia just called her Amilyn.”

“No one calls Leia ‘Princess’ except…” Poe trailed off. It took Rey a minute, but she understood. No one called Leia ‘Princess’ except for Han Solo. And Han Solo was gone. It still tugged at the hole in her heart a little even though she hadn’t known him that long.

Rey watched Leia gently tape a fresh piece of gauze to the wound. Amilyn reached up to touch it softly, as if testing the wound. Leia settled herself next to the other woman. It struck Rey then that they obviously knew each other well. Rey had observed that Leia wasn’t often at ease around many people; Poe was one of the few that Leia dropped her guard around.

“You’ve never seen her before?” asked Rey, curiously.

Poe just shrugged, his eyes straight ahead again. “I think I’d remember the blue hair. Although the name sounds familiar. Maybe they knew each other back during the war?”

“Didn’t she serve in the Senate, too? Maybe they know each other through the New Republic.”

Finn gave a snort. “Didn’t know Senators had blue hair…”

Rey glanced back. Leia and Amilyn had their heads together, whispering about something. Rey could feel a connection there, through the force. She knew that Leia was force-sensitive, like her, but this other woman had a connection too. And there was a bond, something that pulled the two women together.

Amilyn pulled a small data storage device from her jacket and handed it over to Leia. Their hands lingered together, for just a few seconds longer than necessary, before Leia took the device, and stored it securely in her own pocket. Then, as if lost in their own little world, Amilyn reached out and tucked a wayward strand of hair back into its braid.

This surprised Rey. In a low whisper, she asked Poe, “I thought you said no one was supposed to touch an Alderaanian’s hair?”

“What?” Poe flipped a couple of switches and then looked back at the two women, who had gone back to talking quietly. “I mean, generally an Alderannian’s hair is something private. It has something to do with the tradition of their braids. Leia doesn’t like people messing with her hair, so I sometimes think that’s just something she made up so people would quit asking her about the braids.”

“Well, our new friend definitely just fixed her hair, and it didn’t seem like Leia minded at all.”

“Maybe they’re old friends?” reasoned Finn.

Poe gave a little shrug. “Leia knows a lot of people.”

“Old friends,” repeated Rey, thinking that perhaps it was something more than that. But what did she know…it’s not like she had any old friends.

* * *

“How is your head?”

Amilyn slowly lowered herself onto the oversized bunk, wincing a little as pain shot up her back. “It has not been the source of my discomfort.”

Leia turned sharply, a small frown creasing her eyebrows. Two steaming cups of tea rested in her hands. “I wouldn’t have sent you if I thought you would be hurt.”

“I’ll be fine, Leia,” she reassured. Gratefully, she took her cup and breathed in the soothing scent of lavender and honey. Leia remained standing, watching her in concern. Amilyn tried to distract her, saying, “Your kids did a good job today.”

Leia took a sip of her tea and rolled her eyes. “Of course, they did, I trained them. And we’re getting off topic.”

“I told you I barely feel it.” The warm liquid warmed her tongue and throat. She closed her eyes to savor the feeling of comfort flooding her body. Sleeping on the uncomfortable bunk on that piece of crap ship had done far more damage to her back than the hit to the head had done.

She felt the mattress dip a bit as Leia joined her. Amilyn opened her eyes to see Leia’s brown eyes peering down at her. Leia had a way of taking her breath away. Always had. Even at seventeen. Even now.

It never ceased to amaze Amilyn that after all these years and all the starlight between them that she found herself under Leia’s gaze once again. It had started as a teenage romance: stolen kisses, holding hands, exploratory sex. And then Amilyn had watched Leia fall in love with someone else. It wasn’t as if she had been alone; there were so many beautiful people in the galaxy.

And then she had found herself back in Leia’s arms. The circumstances were less than ideal, but Amilyn couldn’t complain. Sitting here, aching back and cut forehead, it was all worth it. Leia reached out to brush the back of her hand gently over the bandage. Suddenly, the pain was forgotten.

“Thank you,” murmured Leia.

“It was nice to be back in the action.”

“Did you miss the ‘nearness of death’?” The callback to their first meeting over thirty years ago made Amilyn lightly chuckle. Leia gave a small grin to match before leaning forward to press a chaste kiss to her lips.

“I certainly missed you,” whispered Amilyn. She reached out to pull Leia in close, one hand still cradling her tea, the other on the back of Leia’s neck. Their lips touched again, this time with more meaning.

When the kiss broke, Leia pulled away, and began to let her hair down for the night. Amilyn took a few more sips of tea before abandoning the cup to the floor. She laced her fingers through Leia’s graying hair, helping untangle the braids. It was one of her favorite things: Leia’s hair. An intimacy that she had never found with anyone else.

They laid back in the bunk together, Leia wrapped in Amilyn’s arms. Her princess, safe in her embrace. Exhaustion was setting in and she could feel her eyelids closing. Sleepily, she pressed a kiss to Leia’s temple. Leia pulled the blanket up around them. A moment just for the two of them was so rare and Amilyn fell asleep, content to hold her lover.

* * *

The remaining resistance had gathered to face their future. The bridge had been destroyed and Poe knew that the majority of their leadership had been lost. Leia had survived, somehow. There were whispers already, about how the General lived when none should have prevailed. But Poe knew the truth: it was the Force.

What had surprised him though, was the purple haired woman who had taken control.

“That’s Admiral Holdo?” he asked Threnalli. “Battle of Chyron Belt, Admiral Holdo?”

Threnalli gave a quick answer to affirm. Poe stared back at her. The hair color had changed, but this was definitely Amilyn. There was still an air of mystery around her that made Poe uneasy. He remembered Leia’s closeness, the familiarity between them. There was a glassy look in Vice Admiral Holdo's eyes after she had finished her speech.

"Not what I expected." 

Perhaps she was just as worried about Leia as he was. After all, they were old friends.


End file.
